Hello, I’m posting this in hopes of making a good idea better, so I hope it doesn’t come across as a complaint. If it does, please forgive me.
A few years ago, trust levels were introduced to the forums in hopes of rewarding good behaviour, and for the most part it does just that, though it does have some unintended consequences.
Some of the positives:
- People who enjoy the perks do in fact make efforts to moderate their behaviour. I include myself and others I’ve discussed the program with.
- The added perks like posting images, gifs, and videos adds value, ranging from serious and helpful, to silly, but funny to the forums.
- The Level 3 Lounge can be quiet, but it’s actually a very well behaved and supportive environment where people are more relaxed, and far more friendly than the general public areas. This is to be expected when the denizens have a proven track record of good behaviour. It’s very much a small tight knit community. This type of environment I think was the goal of the program
There’s also some downsides:
- The requirements for reading posts, and topics to maintain your Trust Level 3 can be onerous at times. School, work, or vacation time can result in someone having to play less for a month or two, and lose that access, even though they stay subbed and remain well behaved. If the forum were supported by advertising and page views this might make more sense, but it isn’t.
- The punishment for minor infractions is disproportionally severe for higher trust levels, despite their having an established record of good behaviour. Someone at TL1 or TL2 can have a post removed once a week, and get silenced for poor behaviour once every couple months without ever losing much. A TL3 member, who previously exhibited good behaviour, loses all their perks, and is removed from the community lounge for an entire year after a single short silence, or having five posts removed during the year.
- The lounge, and its more friendly, supportive environment, does suffer from a lack of traffic often. We’ve seen many people who were active and valued members vanish because they just couldn’t keep up with the required amount of reading and posting required. They prefer the more friendly atmosphere of the lounge and don’t wish to read through content they aren’t engaged with, or make disingenuous posts just for the purpose of hitting a quota. And when someone takes a couple weeks away with the family and can’t login the full 50 out of 100 days, they shouldn’t be punished for it.
The basic goals of the trust level system are good, and they do work to a degree. The way the trust level lounge is friendly and supportive is proof of that. It just needs some adjustments to make it work better. That friendly and supportive environment should be something we want to build on and expand, but it won’t happen with players losing everything to a tripwire response to what can be a very subjective decision that varies depending on who’s looking at it. Expelling a person with a good record of conduct from their community for a year can be very disheartening. It doesn’t really incentivise continued good behaviour when redemption is an entire year of work away. I’ve seen more than a few good people walk away from the forums over it, and for two at least, it was the final straw that ended their WoW days.
This is how I think the Trust levels can be improved to create an even better benefit for all involved. I hope others will add to it:
- Keep the initial bar to entry high for the top level, including posts read, posts made, likes given/received, and most importantly, no bad behaviour.
- Remove the requirement to maintain a certain volume of posts made or read to maintain a trust level. Instead, simply require the player to stay subscribed, and maintain good behaviour.
- The people with a proven track record of good behaviour should get a warning before losing everything. These are people who contribute in a positive way that make the forum a good place, and help build supportive communities. That’s the goal of the trust level system in the first place.
- If someone loses their trust level, let it be for three months, rather than a year. It’s still a huge setback that the player will definitely not take lightly, but there’s an incentive to fix their mistakes and earn it back. Make the period too long and many will just give up, which benefits nobody.
Hopefully ideas like the above can expand the pool of higher trust level posters by making it easier for well behaved people to remain in that community and engage with others in a more sedate environment, while being able to contribute more to all forums with outside media enhancing their offerings from time to time.
Thank you.